Impact of respiratory viruses in intensive care unit patient with community-acquired pneumonia : a one-year retrospective single-centre study.

International audienc

Mechanisms of Family Impact on African American Adolescents\u27 HIV-Related Behavior

A longitudinal model that tested mediating pathways between protective family processes and HIV-related behavior was evaluated with 195 African American youth. Three waves of data were collected when the youth were 13, 15, and 19 years old. Evidence of mediation and temporal priority were assessed for 3 constructs: academic engagement, evaluations of prototypical risk-taking peers, and affiliations with risk-promoting peers. Structural equation modeling indicated that protective family processes assessed during early adolescence were associated with HIV-related behavior during emerging adulthood and that academic engagement, evaluations of prototypical risk-taking peers, and affiliations with risk-promoting peers accounted for this association. Evidence of a specific pathway emerged: protective family processes→academic engagement→negative evaluations of prototypical risk-taking peers→affiliations with risk-promoting peers→HIV-related behavior. Academic engagement also was a direct predictor of HIV-related risk behavior

Severity of BA.2 variant and vaccine effectiveness against symptomatic disease in Scotland

The first confirmed case of SARS-CoV-2 omicron BA.2 was identified in Scotland on December 23, 2021.1 BA.2 was the dominant variant in Scotland, replacing omicron BA.1.1.529 (BA.1) and accounting for >90% of new cases as of March 23, 2022 (Fig. S1, Supplementary Appendix).1 Initial research suggested that BA.2 was associated with an increase in the odds ratio of infection for both unvaccinated and fully vaccinated individuals compared to BA.1.2 Since then, other studies from Qatar haveshownthatvaccinationcanprovideprotectionagainst symptomatic BA.1 and BA.2 infection,3 but vaccination effectiveness is stronger after a third ‘booster’ dose. We undertook a test-negative design (TND) study of all individuals over the age of 18in Scotland whohadaRT-PCR test for SARS-CoV-2 from the community, were symptomatic at time of test, had their sample virally sequenced between November 1, 2021 and March 20, 2022, and did not have a record of a previous positive test using the Early Pandemic Evaluation and Enhanced Surveillance (EAVE II) platform

Selecting the most informative positive and negative controls for self-controlled case series (SCCS) : Rationale, approach, and lessons from studies investigating the safety of COVID-19 vaccines

Peer reviewe

BNT162b2 COVID-19 vaccination uptake, safety, effectiveness and waning in children and young people aged 12–17 years in Scotland

This study is part of the EAVE II project. EAVE II is funded by the MRC (MC_PC_19075) with the support of BREATHE—The Health Data Research Hub for Respiratory Health (MC_PC_19004), which is funded through the UK Research and Innovation Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and delivered through the Health Data Research UK. This research is part of the Data and Connectivity National Core Study, led by Health Data Research UK in partnership with the Office for National Statistics and funded by UK Research and Innovation (grant ref MC_PC_20058). This work was also supported by The Alan Turing Institute via ‘Towards Turing 2.0’ EPSRC Grant Funding. Additional support has been provided through Public Health Scotland, the Scottish Government Director-General Health and Social Care and the University of Edinburgh. The original EAVE project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme (11/46/23). The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the NIHR, the Department of Health and Social Care, or the UK government. We thank Dave Kelly from Albasoft (Inverness, UK) for his support with making primary care data available, and Wendy Inglis-Humphrey, Vicky Hammersley, and Laura Brook (University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK) for their support with project management and administration.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Severe COVID-19 outcomes after full vaccination of primary schedule and initial boosters : pooled analysis of national prospective cohort studies of 30 million individuals in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales

National Core Studies–Immunity, UK Research and Innovation (Medical Research Council), Health Data Research UK, the Scottish Government, and the University of Edinburgh.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Conserved elements associated with ribosomal genes and their trans-splice acceptor sites in Caenorhabditis elegans

The recent publication of the Caenorhabditis elegans cisRED database has provided an extensive catalog of upstream elements that are conserved between nematode genomes. We have performed a secondary analysis to determine which subsequences of the cisRED motifs are found in multiple locations throughout the C. elegans genome. We used the word-counting motif discovery algorithm DME to form the motifs into groups based on sequence similarity. We then examined the genes associated with each motif group using DAVID and Ontologizer to determine which groups are associated with genes that also have significant functional associations in the Gene Ontology and other gene annotation sources. Of the 3265 motif groups formed, 612 (19%) had significant functional associations with respect to GO terms. Eight of the first 20 motif groups based on frequent dodecamers among the cisRED motif sequences were specifically associated with ribosomal protein genes; two of these were similar to mouse EBP-45, rat HNF3-family and Drosophila Zeste transcription factor binding sites. Additionally, seven motif groups were extensions of the canonical C. elegans trans-splice acceptor site. One motif group was tested for regulatory function in a series of green fluorescent protein expression experiments and was shown to be involved in pharyngeal expression

COVID-19 hospital admissions and deaths after BNT162b2 and ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 vaccinations in 2·57 million people in Scotland (EAVE II):a prospective cohort study

EAVE II is funded by the Medical Research Council (MR/R008345/1) with the support of BREATHE—The Health Data Research Hub for Respiratory Health [MC_PC_19004], which is funded through the UK Research and Innovation Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund and delivered through Health Data Research UK. UA, CM, AA-L, and AFF acknowledge funding from Chief Scientist Office Rapid Research in COVID-19 programme (COV/SAN/20/06) and Health Data Research UK (measuring and understanding multimorbidity using routine data in the UK—HDR-9006; CFC0110). SVK acknowledges funding from a NHS Research Scotland Senior Clinical Fellowship (SCAF/15/02), the Medical Research Council (MC_UU_00022/2), and the Scottish Government's Chief Scientist Office (SPHSU17). SJS is funded by a Wellcome Trust Clinical Career Development Fellowship (209560/Z/17/Z).Background  The UK COVID-19 vaccination programme has prioritised vaccination of those at the highest risk of COVID-19 mortality and hospitalisation. The programme was rolled out in Scotland during winter 2020–21, when SARS-CoV-2 infection rates were at their highest since the pandemic started, despite social distancing measures being in place. We aimed to estimate the frequency of COVID-19 hospitalisation or death in people who received at least one vaccine dose and characterise these individuals. Methods  We conducted a prospective cohort study using the Early Pandemic Evaluation and Enhanced Surveillance of COVID-19 (EAVE II) national surveillance platform, which contained linked vaccination, primary care, RT-PCR testing, hospitalisation, and mortality records for 5·4 million people (around 99% of the population) in Scotland. Individuals were followed up from receiving their first dose of the BNT162b2 (Pfizer–BioNTech) or ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (Oxford–AstraZeneca) COVID-19 vaccines until admission to hospital for COVID-19, death, or the end of the study period on April 18, 2021. We used a time-dependent Poisson regression model to estimate rate ratios (RRs) for demographic and clinical factors associated with COVID-19 hospitalisation or death 14 days or more after the first vaccine dose, stratified by vaccine type. Findings Between Dec 8, 2020, and April 18, 2021, 2 572 008 individuals received their first dose of vaccine—841 090 (32·7%) received BNT162b2 and 1 730 918 (67·3%) received ChAdOx1. 1196 (<0·1%) individuals were admitted to hospital or died due to COVID-19 illness (883 hospitalised, of whom 228 died, and 313 who died due to COVID-19 without hospitalisation) 14 days or more after their first vaccine dose. These severe COVID-19 outcomes were associated with older age (≥80 years vs 18–64 years adjusted RR 4·75, 95% CI 3·85–5·87), comorbidities (five or more risk groups vs less than five risk groups 4·24, 3·34–5·39), hospitalisation in the previous 4 weeks (3·00, 2·47–3·65), high-risk occupations (ten or more previous COVID-19 tests vs less than ten previous COVID-19 tests 2·14, 1·62–2·81), care home residence (1·63, 1·32–2·02), socioeconomic deprivation (most deprived quintile vs least deprived quintile 1·57, 1·30–1·90), being male (1·27, 1·13–1·43), and being an ex-smoker (ex-smoker vs non-smoker 1·18, 1·01–1·38). A history of COVID-19 before vaccination was protective (0·40, 0·29–0·54). Interpretation COVID-19 hospitalisations and deaths were uncommon 14 days or more after the first vaccine dose in this national analysis in the context of a high background incidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection and with extensive social distancing measures in place. Sociodemographic and clinical features known to increase the risk of severe disease in unvaccinated populations were also associated with severe outcomes in people receiving their first dose of vaccine and could help inform case management and future vaccine policy formulation.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

The effects of ethanol and silymarin treatment during gestation on spatial working memory.

BACKGROUND: Using a rat model we have found that the bioflavonoid silymarin (SY) ameliorates some of the negative consequences of in utero exposure to ethanol (EtOH). In the current study our aim was to determine if spatial working memory (SWM) was impaired in offspring whose mothers were maintained on a liquid diet containing EtOH during different gestational weeks. We also determined if SWM was altered with a concomitant administration of SY with EtOH during specific gestational weeks. METHODS: We provided pregnant Fischer/344 rats with liquid diets containing 35% EtOH derived calories (EDC) during specific weeks of the gestational period. A silymarin/phospholipid compound containing 29.8% silybin co-administered with EtOH was also administered during specific weeks of the gestational period. We tested SWM of the offspring with a radial arm maze on postnatal day (PND) 60. After testing the rats were sacrificed and their brains perfused for later analysis. RESULTS: We observed SWM deficits, as well as a significantly lower brain weight in female offspring born of mothers treated with EtOH during the third week of gestation in comparison to mothers treated during either the first or second weeks of gestation. Rats from any group receiving EtOH in co-administration with SY showed no significant deficits in SWM. CONCLUSION: EtOH treatment during the last week of gestation had the greatest impact on SWM. The addition of SY to the EtOH liquid diet appeared to ameliorate the EtOH-induced learning deficits

Selecting the most informative positive and negative controls for self-controlled case series (SCCS) : rationale, approach, and lessons from studies investigating the safety of COVID-19 vaccines

The self-controlled case series (SCCS) is a study design used in epidemiology to test for variation in outcomes for a group of individuals before and after an exposure or intervention, with each pre-intervention individual serving as a control for themselves in the post-intervention period. The design is particularly useful for studying rare events or outcomes that occur in a time-dependent manner, such as uncommon side-effects of a medical intervention [1–3]. In the Early Pandemic Evaluation and Enhanced Surveillance of COVID-19 (EAVE II) study, we used this SCCS design to evaluate the safety of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines in various age groups of the Scottish and UK populations